The airline aims to offer fast, affordable air travel, where the customer always comes first. A blanket charge of £49 single will apply on all flights till 12 March.

Halstead shot to as a 19-year-old when he started Alpha One Airways, a low-cost carrier offering flights between Oxford and Cambridge. However the business folded just six weeks after launch.

He has since held a number of positions within the aviation industry, including working as a flight attendant on Branson’s Virgin Atlantic. He also secured an air transport licence at the Oxford Air Training School at the age of 18.

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He would not disclose the identity of Varsity’s backers but they are understood to be a group of British businessmen with property interests in the Canary Islands, according to The Times. The deal could eventually give him a half-share in the company.

The Oxford to Edinburgh flights — in an 18-seat Jetstream — will run only on weekdays. Halstead is already looking at adding another route.